can discoid lupus develop into systemic lupus?
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Please pardon the delay in the answer here. I hope this isn't too confusing, but here goes. Skin lesions of lupus can come in several forms. There are classic discoid lesions that can be present with or without systemic lupus. Only about 10% of persons with only discoid lesions eventually develop/have met the criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus. About 90% of people with the "classic" butterfly (cheeks and nose) rash of lupus have/develop systemic lupus (SLE). In the intermediate range of association with SLE is something called subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE) that can have a variety of skin lesions that are sort of difficult to describe here, but might be considered eczema or psoriasis to an untrained (and occasionally, initially, to a trained) eye. Hope this helps. See also the patient information sheets at http:/www.derm-infonet.com/pip.htm if you have a web browser.
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